Background of Artist Rudolf Stingel’s Palazzo Grassi Exhibit
The carpets were meant to remind visitors of the city’s past. The idea came from Sigmund Freud’s study in Vienna. Freud’s study has different Oriental carpets draped on furniture, on tables, walls, and covering almost the entire floor. Stingel took the pattern for the carpet at the Palazzo Grassi from one of the carpets on the floor of Sigmund Freud’s study. This gave the room a sense of containment. Thus, the architectural space becomes one of inner space and meditation. Entering the space created a suspension of the outer world for a time.